AMSTERDAM – Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest began the new Championship season on the wrong foot, falling 1-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.
The right back became the first player in the league to earn a caution for the term when he went into the book on just 12 minutes. Lichaj was then beaten on the lone goal play, as Kazenga Lua Lua slipped past the American to score the winner four minutes out of intermission.
Those errors marred an otherwise fine night of defending from Lichaj, who pitched in with four tackles, three clearances and two pass picks. The Forest defeat was their seventh from a nine-game winless run that dates back to last season.
Over in Ireland, Morgan Langley hopped off the bench late to bag the capper as St. Patrick's Athletic set a new team record with their eighth straight win, a 2-0 decision away to 10-man Shamrock Rovers.
The 81st-minute sub rounded the stranded home netminder near the touchline to bulge the abandoned net with his second goal of the season. The result allowed St. Pat's to move clear of Rovers in third place, which doubles as the last Europa League slot.
